In celebration of Veterans day, check out the November 7th issue of the Machias Valley News Observer for our tribute to all of the brave men and women who have served or are currently serving in our military

During their bi-weekly meeting held Wednesday, Oct. 24, the Machias Board of Selectmen resolved to ask the Machias Police Department to enforce the speed limit on Court Street with regular patrols.

In recent weeks a speed-measuring sign was placed in two different locations in Machias. Over a 12-day period on Court Street, the sign counted 15,253 cars with 10,833 of them breaking the speed limit.

“That’s two-thirds of the people speeding, coming into a school zone,” said Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien.

The local branch of the Maine Lobstermen’s Union (MLU) opened their monthly meeting in the library of Jonesport-Beals High School October 26 with a moment of silence in memory of Scott Chandler, the 51-year-old Jonesport fisherman who had drowned out of his 20-foot lobster boat in Moosabec Reach two days earlier. Afterward, the hat was passed around and the two dozen fishermen present donated a total of $527 for his family.

A congenial tone permeated the two-hour local candidate forum hosted by the University of Maine at Machias on Thursday, Oct. 25. Nine of ten local House and Senate candidates attended the event, representing Senate District 6 and House Districts 138-140. The event was also live-streamed on www.machias.edu.

Upon opening your ballot this year you’ll see a bit of the familiar – and a bit of the new. Along with the customary dance of the incumbents and their challengers, this year’s midterm election is the first in which Mainers will be utilizing the Ranked Choice Voting system.

This chilling sight was seen standing like this up and down Main Street

The town of Machias joined in the festivities with the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s scarecrow contest, this year featuring a band of mischievous minions, characters from the popular “Despicable Me” movie series. Photos by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The historic Nash building will soon pivot from a symbol of Main Street decline to an agent of change for the wider Washington County business community. Last week Machias Savings Bank announced it has partnered with the Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC), and that the Nash Building, located at the end of Centre Street and Main Street in Machias, will be given new life as the Machias Valley Center for Entrepreneurship. The bank purchased the building in June, 2017.

Janine Hawkins and her daughter Emily have always had big dreams for their family horse farm in Wesley. Janine dreamed of breeding a horse to compete at the Morgan Grand Nationals in Oklahoma, and Emily dreamed of training a horse she would ride in the grand nationals, a contest considered the pinnacle of achievement in the Morgan horse world.